Fairytale Challange from Lovers of the Potions Master Facebook group
by ANGELWINGZ1983
Summary: Ever wonder what your mind could come up with when given a fairytale prompt? Well this is what happened in the Facebook group 'Lovers of the Potions Master'. What follows are the musings of the two Fairytales I chose. Happy reading.


Fairytale Challenge Fic from Facebook group 'Lovers of the Potion Master'

First Choice: No 9 – Rumpelslitskin

Second Choice: No 5 – Hansel and Gretel

Written in the order that the ideas for the ficlets came in. Don't blame me, blame the muse!

Second Choice: No 5 – Hansel and Gretel

As he walked through the corridors of the school during his usual nightly duty, Severus began to notice what looked like silvery flower petals, guiding him to who knows where. He stopped to examine one of them, only to be surprised to find that they were lily petals. Was his old friend, Lily Evans trying to tell him something from beyond the grave? No, Lily Potter would never do that, especially with her own son now being at the school. But then again, Severus had thought he had seen the young lad disappear not too long ago in to the library and had not yet reappeared.

The night went on and still Severus had the niggling feeling that there was a student out of bed and where they should not be, so with Filch, he went on the hunt. After searching the last few remaining hiding places he knew the castle held, Severus found himself once again in the corridor with the trail of petals. Somewhere deep down inside, it reminded him of the old Muggle fairytale of Hansel and Gretel his Mother used to read to him when he was much younger, leaving a trail of breadcrumbs behind them so they could escape the dark woods their father had left them in. Curiosity got the better of him once Filch had gone off in search of the possibility of catching students out of bed. He decided to follow the petals, to see where they would lead him. As he went, he magically gathered the petals into his cloak pocket, not leaving a trace of the trail he was following. They stopped outside a room not far from the Restricted Section doorway of the library. Curiosity got the better of him again and he entered.

All there was in the middle of the room was a large mirror, with all of the desks and chairs that usually occupied the room stacked neatly against the walls to the left. He had over heard Dumbledore speak of this mirror in passing, but never thought he, the Headmaster, would store such an item here in the school where any student could mistakenly discover it. Unbeknownst to Severus, Harry Potter had not long left the room to drag his friend Ron Weasley from his bed to see what he had seen in the Mirror of Erised. As Severus drew nearer, an image of a shadowy figure appeared on the smooth, yet mottled glass. As he stood and watched, it became clearer.

It was the image of Lily Potter. She smiled at her old friend, all the animosity of what had happened in the past forgotten as she knew he was the one, apart from Professor Dumbledore of course, who was truly watching out for her child. Severus wasn't one to usually tear up, but the sight of his long-lost love made his heart ache, causing him to reach out to the glass. His fingertips were within millimetres of the glass when the sound of animated chatter coming from the corridor brought him back to reality. Quickly he disappeared behind the mirror and Disillusioned himself so that he could leave the room unseen. As he left the room, with its door thankfully left wide open by the two boys in their haste to peer into the mirror, he glanced back to see Harry once again stood in front of the mirror, the grin on his face told Severus just what he could see.

Once far enough away from the room and its enticing mirror, Severus dug his hands deep into his cloak pockets and strode back to his dungeon abode. His fingers absent-mindedly played with the silky petals he had picked up, to the point where they were bruised and too badly damaged to keep.

'_Just like my feelings for you my dearest Lily. I will always remember you and do my best to protect your child. Always.'_

He dumped them onto his desk in his living quarters, not quite yet ready to throw them away. There they sat over the coming weeks, through all of the madness of Quirrell and his troll escapade and the whole Philosopher's Stone caper, forgotten and withered away only to be cleaned up by one of the castle's many House-Elves.

First Choice: No 9 – Rumpelslitskin

Once again the Dark Lord called his minions to a revel, Severus amongst them as if he did not show, it would be commented upon. Even still, the glares he was receiving from Bellatrix were murderous. She had always strived to be the Dark Lord's favourite, but everyone knew just how much he actually relied upon Severus, his spy within Dumbledore's ranks. Tonight, Severus had been ordered to bring the Sword of Gryffindor with him, so that the Dark Lord may have it appraised and then safely hidden away.

There was much merriment under way when Severus finally arrived. Many of the Death Eaters were sat around the opulent ballroom of the Malfoy Manor, drinking vast amounts of Lucius' best wines, to which the owner of said wines was not impressed at, judging by his face as Severus passed him and his small family. As he approached the 'throne' the Dark Lord had created for himself at the head of the massive table in the centre of the room, the revellers fell silent as they watched him carry the much talked about, fabled sword. Severus bent to one knee before his Master, holding the sword out in front of him, presenting it to Voldemort. The evil wizard's red slits for eyes gleamed as they took in the sight before him. His fingers played over the smooth metal before grabbing the hilt and taking possession of it.

"Bring the goblin," he commanded with a smile. He instructed Severus to rise and wait by his right hand side for the goblin from Gringott's they had captured to be brought up from the cellar where he was bring held. Severus recognised the goblin instantly as Griphook, one of the Master Goblins of Gringott's. He knew that this goblin's handprint could open any vault in the bank, but assumed that since his disappearance, they would have compensated for the fact he may have been captured and possibly be used to access forbidden vaults.

"What is your name Master Goblin?" Voldemort sneered.

"Guess," came the reply.

"What did you just say?" fumed the Dark Lord. Severus almost sniggered out aloud. He was in that moment forcibly reminded of an old Muggle fairytale of a grumpy goblin who had span gold for an ungrateful girl, but would give up his claim to her first born child if only she could guess his name, Rumpelslitskin. Severus smirked even more at the reference as in that moment between the goblin and his Master, Griphook was most definitely the embodiment of Rumpelslitskin.

The entire room was deathly silent. Voldemort rose from his chair and walked to where the goblin was stood with his head held high in defiance.

"I know your name goblin, for I have seen you many a time during my early visits to the bank before my transformation. I need not worry about it. Now, all I ask of you is that you confirm that this is indeed the true Sword of Gryffindor," he hissed as he handed the weapon to the goblin.

Griphook took his time examining it before giving his reply.

"It is the Sword of Gryffindor. Only we goblins can see the magic that was used to create such magnificent objects." He hesitated in the handing it back, as he knew, if he were to escape from the confines he was to be placed back into very soon, the sword would be a very good bargaining chip to have. Still he knew if he didn't return it, it would cost him his life.

"My thanks, Master Goblin. You may now be returned to the cellar. Your job is complete," Voldemort said as he took the sword back. He then turned to the waiting Death Eaters, all eager to know the next step. "Severus, please could you place this in the small vault I know Lucius has upstairs? It will not be staying here long as I fully intend on it being under much tighter security very soon." Severus nodded as he retrieved the weapon from him and did as he was ordered. Behind him, he heard Bellatrix exclaim her interest in wanting to offer her vault in Gringott's as the hiding place for the sword, seeing as it was one of the high security vaults deep within the bank's cavernous underground vault system.

Once upstairs and out of sight, Severus duplicated the sword, placing the copy in the Malfoy's vault and the original, in miniature form, into his inside pocket. He then returned to the revel, to gain permission to return to the castle from the Dark Lord as he would be missed if he stayed away too long. Voldemort merely waved him off, far too entertained with the sight in front of him. Severus shivered as he glanced at the spectacle, a young Muggle woman under the Cruciatus Curse being forced to perform sexual acts on various members of the Death Eaters. He knew that she would not last the night.

Once he was out of the grounds of Malfoy Manor and a good, safe distance away to be sure of not being followed, he Appearated to a quiet forest covered in snow and ice. Here he found Harry Potter and led him to a frozen pond using his Patronus of a doe. Just before Harry arrived in the clearing, Severus maximised the sword once more and placed it at the bottom of the pond. From behind a large tree, he watched as the boy struggled to reach the item. Just as Severus was getting desperate and almost forced to save the boy, Harry's friend Ron turned up just in time. Once he knew the boys were safely out of the freezing water, he was free to head back to Hogwarts and the terrors that awaited him there.


End file.
